24 108. In the matter of receiving and weighing evidence, the Court has indicated that its proceedings are not subject to the same formalities as domestic proceedings and, when incorporating certain elements into the body of evidence, particular attention must be paid to the circumstances of the specific case and to the limits imposed by respect for legal certainty and the procedural equality of the parties. Likewise, the Court has taken account of international case law; by considering that international courts have the authority to assess and evaluate the evidence according to the rules of sound criticism, it has always avoided a rigid determination of the quantum of evidence needed to support a judgment. This criterion is valid for international human rights courts, which have greater latitude to evaluate the evidence on the pertinent facts, in accordance with the principles of logic and on the basis of experience.13 109. Based on the foregoing, the Court will now proceed to examine and assess the documentary probative elements provided by the Commission, the representatives and the State at different procedural opportunities and as helpful evidence that was requested by the Court and its President, and also the expert and testimonial evidence given before the Court during the public hearing, all of which comprises the body of evidence in this case. In so doing, the Court will respect the principle of sound criticism within the applicable legal framework, A) DOCUMENTARY EVIDENCE 110. The Commission, the representatives and the State forwarded testimonial statements and expert evidence given before notary public (affidavits), and the Commission provided two sworn written statements as called for by the President in his order of January 28, 2005 (supra para. 28). These statements and testimonies are summarized below. TESTIMONIES a) Proposed by the Inter-American Commission and the representatives 1. Centuriano Knight Andrews, legal representative of YATAMA in the RAAN YATAMA emerged in the 1970s under the name of ALPROMISU. In 1978, it extended its coverage to all the municipalities of the RAAN. In 1979, it adopted the name of MISURASATA, and in 1987 it became known as YATAMA, which means “Organization of the sons of Mother Earth.” The indigenous communities consider YATAMA to be their protector and have recourse to its representatives before they resort to any other authority. As of 1990, it began to take part in regional elections as a “public subscription association”. This “meant that any organization could take part in the elections if it collected a certain number of signatures, and the presentation of candidates in all the territorial districts was not required.” The “public subscription” category was eliminated by the 2000 Electoral Act; this obliged the organization to become a political party on May 4, 2000. The change was imposed by the Government and has prevented YATAMA from “pursuing its actions as an 13 Cf. Case of Caesar, supra note 11, para. 42; Case of the Serrano Cruz Sisters, supra note 10, para. 33; and Case of Lori Berenson Mejía, supra note 11, para. 64.